October 4, 2024
Tzu Chi Foundation and Takeda Healthcare Philippines collaborate towards equitable patient care
By Dorothy Castro
Among many prevalent non-communicable diseases (NCDs), Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer that affects the lymph nodes, and inflammatory bowel disease, a chronic illness affecting the gastrointestinal tract, are some of the rare illnesses that affect people in their most productive years.
Due to the severity of the illness and the difficulty in treating these diseases, patients need to complete a full course of treatment to manage and even overcome these conditions.
Hence, young breadwinners often have to choose between getting treatment or putting food on the table.
This is the heart of the partnership between Takeda Healthcare Philippines Inc. and Tzu Chi Foundation Philippines. With a common goal to provide equitable healthcare for all, the two parties drew up a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on September 24 to give a full course of treatment to patients suffering from Hodgkin’s lymphoma and inflammatory bowel disease.
Tzu Chi Philippines CEO Henry Yuñez led the MOU signing on Tzu Chi’s end, happy to welcome the new opportunity to provide timely treatment to many communities.
Takeda Philippines, a multinational biopharmaceutical company based in Japan, follows the mission towards better health for the future of every individual. It specifically emphasized on enhancing the quality of life of many Filipinos affected by these rare diseases.
“It’s disheartening to see that they're at the prime of their lives and the illness affects them and the family and for them to stop having a normal life. But through this program, their survival rate can be increased,” says Sheryll Anne Corpuz, lead of Access to Medicines (ATM) of Takeda Philippines.
Tzu Chi Foundation is Takeda Philippines’ first non-government organization (NGO) partner for this patient assistance program. This partnership, for Tzu Chi, expands the borders of its current Medical Assistance Program. This follows the beginnings of Tzu Chi Founder Dharma Master Cheng Yen’s Mission of Charity through providing medical assistance to patients who are financially struggling.
“This partnership is a celebration of genuine collaboration; at the same time, identifying what two partners and organizations do to amplify [and] really [bring] impact to the Filipino community. And we're excited to have this partnership and implement it as soon as possible,” says Loreann Villanueva, country manager of Takeda Philippines.
(From left) Loreann Villanueva, Country Manager of Takeda Healthcare Philippines Inc., together with Tzu Chi Philippines CEO Henry Yuñez and Deputy CEO Peggy Sy Jiang discussed the unified missions towards equitable healthcare for Filipinos.
Members of Tzu Chi Philippines and Takeda Philippines took on the discussion of patient assessment for the patient assistance program. Photo taken by Takeda Healthcare Philippines Inc.
Clifford Co, partnerships officer from the Office of the CEO of Tzu Chi Philippines (second from left), discussed the foundation’s missions and activities during the MOU signing.
(From left) John Raymond Gulinao, lead of Institutional Business and Alliance management of Takeda Philippines, Henry Yuñez, CEO of Tzu Chi Philippines, and Loreann Villanueva, country manager of Takeda Philippines all smile for a photo after a successful MOU signing.